Mike Page Mountain Light Photography: Impressions of Winter

How is winter working for you so far? It's a challenging season for photography. The light can be great or nah, exposing photos correctly is more of a challenge and landscapes can be completely transformed. Frost and ice can add nice details to foliage, snow can cover messy details, focussing attention on the contours. Colours can be muted - or disappear altogether. Alternatively they can naturally desaturate a scene and leave just a single element in colour. All in all a fun time of year to be out and about.

Hoar Frost on Beech || Olympus 75 mm f/8, 1/125 s, ISO 320

But not every day is a success. Yesterday, for example, we went out snow-shoeing above the Riedberg Pass and the light was a complete let-down. I barely took a shot all day, and of those none were worth writing home about. The light was too flat. There were a couple of snow-drifts that might have made the cut, but it was all a bit of a waste photographically speaking (great day out with the family though and fun to break out the snow shoes again after almost 20 years).

Back to the Covered Bridge || Huawei P30 Pro

The first photos were from a visit to Bad Hindelang. I wanted to check out that bridge to see how it looked in its winter coat. Although we'd had some snow, it had mostly gone from the south-facing slopes, leaving the unsightly brown-green fir trees in the background spoiling the shot. So apart from the smartphone grab-shot above that scene's on hold for now. Fortunately there are some cool looking cross-country ski tracks down that way, so I may be able to persuade Sharon that we need to go back down there when the snow improves 😉.

Beaver Chippings || Olympus 15 mm f/8, 1/125 s, ISO 160

Instead of hitting the bridge, we carried on up the valley and walked around Hinterstein. It was delightfully cold and crunchy as we set off along the Ostrach valley. We discovered that there wasn't just one covered bridge in the valley but three, though the others don't lie quite as nicely as the one at Bruck (if you look carefully, you'll spot one of the others in the shot above). With the cold air and lack of snow on the south-facing slopes it ended up being a day for close-ups rather than landscapes. Fortunately I'm equally at home in either genre so I was able to make the best of an otherwise bad day photographically.

Frosty Teasel || Olympus 100 mm f/8, 1/100 s, ISO 320

One of the accessories that's always in my camera bag is a +3 diopter screw-in magnifying filter, a sneaky little add-on that lets me get really close-up details like this teasel above. Although it might look like a studio shot, this was taken in situ. The magnifying lens sharply drops the depth of field, throwing the background out of focus.

Thaw-Lines || Olympus 61 mm f/5.6, 1/160 s, ISO 320

Frozen Moss || Olympus 50 mm f/8, 1/30 s, ISO 1600

Hoary Beech || Olympus 28 mm f/8, 1/250 s, ISO 1600

Hoary Tree || Olympus 50 mm f/5.6, 1/200 s, ISO 320

Our second outing was to Oberstdorf on Boxing Day. It has snowed again on Christmas Day and there was a fresh dusting of snow on the mountains.

Fresh Snow on Boxing Day || Olympus 80 mm f/8, 1/160 s, ISO 200

The next shot shows off what I meant at the start with the colour accents.

The Hay Shed || Olympus 17 mm f/11, 1/80 s, ISO 200

Across the Valley || Olympus 100 mm f/11, 1/25 s, ISO 200

Stumped for a Title || Olympus 34 mm f/8, 1/250 s, ISO 200

All About the Diagonals || Olympus 31 mm f/8, 1/200 s, ISO 200

Through the Boughs || Olympus 80 mm f/8, 1/160 s, ISO 200

Winter Wonderland || Olympus 24 mm f/11, 1/80 s, ISO 200

Tree Skeletons || Olympus 75 mm f/8, 1/15 s, ISO 200

Winter in the High Alps || Olympus 100 mm f/8, 1/160 s, ISO 200

Seven Peaks I || Olympus 61 mm f/8, 1/500 s, ISO 200

Seven Peaks II || Olympus 50 mm f/8, 1/320 s, ISO 200

There are several things to watch out for when hiking in the winter; the cold, routes generally take longer due to the more challenging conditions, reduced day-length and, of course, avalanches. We always make a point of checking the avalanche forecast AND comparing it with the terrain for the tour we've planned. Bergfex provides free online maps and allows you to call up a Slope Gradient overlay, allowing you to tell at a glance areas to avoid.